a resort on the Minnesota-Canada border<\/a>, where she and her now-husband tied the knot on an arresting cliffside with just their pets. \u201cThe alternative would have been to get married at a restaurant my parents own, which would have been lovely but very different from how we pictured our day,\u201d she says. \u201cWe met in the woods eight years ago \u2014 working outdoor jobs near Lake Tahoe in our early 20s \u2014 so it meant a lot to be able to connect outside and really focus on what brought us together in the first place,\u201d says Cohen. \u201cThe images of the wedding just felt like us.\u201d<\/p>\nWhereas elopements began as a way to surreptitiously tie the knot, today, they\u2019re all about creating something special, specific, and small \u2014 but by no means secret. These events are not meant for large crowds in the moment, but they are meant to be shown off, and so incredible photography becomes a nonnegotiable.\u00a0\u201cSharing our elopement with our people was important,\u201d says Weir. \u201cCOVID stripped away so much, but it wasn\u2019t going to take away from us getting married and showing the world our love. Sean\u2019s art allowed us to document an intimate day and share that with people after-the-fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of my current couples are putting photography first on the list of priorities in their elopement plan,\u201d says Bjorn. \u201cThey want their day to be a unique experience from start to finish and for it to be documented accordingly.\u201d Macfarlane adds that she\u2019s seen her videography grow fourfold since 2020, with demand for documentation so strong that they\u2019ve introduced a new five-hour photography package, focused on creating a complete narrative of the wedding day.<\/p>\n
As Brown describes it, elopements allow couples to \u201ctreat themselves to their flavor of extravagance\u201d \u2014 one that is suddenly attainable. So if a traditional wedding is vanilla or chocolate, think of this new brand of elopements as an Instagram-only hot-fudge sundae with a gold-leaf brownie balanced on top: It is lavish and luxurious, aspirational and impressive, meant to be admired by friends and strangers via social media. Delicious enough onscreen, but even better in real life.<\/p>\n
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